Hey there, it's NWA88 from the blog --
I thought this might be a fun idea for a blog topic -- specifically wrestlers who debuted after a long series of vignettes.
Over the years we've seen many of these kinds of hype videos for soon to be debuting wrestlers. Some of them (like "garbage man" Dusty Rhodes or Mr. Perfect) were crafted to reveal facets of the characters themselves, where others were shrouded in mystery and designed to create a buzz (Blood Runs Cold, the Millennium Countdown). I just thought it might be fun to discuss the best and worst of these and to shed some light on some of the lesser known or forgotten ones.
Best: Razor Ramon. Gave you everything you needed to know about the character in one shot and instantly turned him into a star before he even stepped into the ring. Mr. Perfect was a close second, I'd say, but Perfect was someone who could get himself over as he went, whereas Ramon really needed to have the character launched from jump street.
Worst: The Artist Formerly Known As Prince vignettes did nothing to make me care any more about Iaukea.
I'm not sure whether it would be considered good or bad given what eventually happened, but Harry Beaver Cleavage needs to be mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThe Waylon Mercy vignettes were awesome, and if Dan Spivey hadn't been broken by Nash that character had tons of potential.
ReplyDeleteMillion Dollar Man is #1. Not sure if there's even a #2.
ReplyDeleteThe worst has the be Hirohito, right? The racist/offensive vignettes they did for Kenzo Suzuki initally, in 2004 I think? They ran it just once, maybe twice, before they pulled the plug.
My vote for worst would have to be Glacier. Those Blood Runs Cold promos ran for months and me and everyone I knew figured they were for Kevin Nash. Who else was a big enough star that we all knew was heading to WCW that would get that kind of hype? And it ended up being some karate asshole who sucked ass and the whole thing just bombed. Fucking Eric Bischoff... I can't really think of anyone else in wrestling that got so much hype and crashed and burned so badly. Seriously, NO ONE gave a fuck once we got a look at the guy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting my question Scott!
ReplyDeleteFor best: There are lots of good ones, but I'd like to call attention to an admittedly odd choice given the relative simplicity of the segments, but one of my favorites was the way WCW hyped up Jushin Liger's debut in 1991.
They mostly just used short video clips of some of his more spectacular moves from his matches in Japan set against his WCW theme music, but at the time it was so mind blowing for me -- not only the moves themselves, but just the completely different atmosphere the Japanese fans provide to the action. That's one of the first times I can really remember seriously anticipating someone's arrival. Razor was great too, although I think I had quit watching just before his actual debut.
For worst: I don't know why, but the series they did for freshly turned face Crush always irritated me as a kid, especially when they'd show "home movies" of him as a child crushing things. Even at 11 years old I was not buying that those were legitimate and so the whole thing came off very poorly to me. Blood Runs Cold was a big let-down too, although I kind of figured I just "didn't get it" because I wasn't some huge fan of Mortal Kombat or whatever the video-game tie in was supposed to be.
What happened with him and Nash? I just remember Spivey already being pretty banged up by that point and not having much left in the tank -- did he injure him or did they job him out or something?
ReplyDeleteIf you go on youtube and watch the old Fabulous Ones music videos from the early '80s I'm sure they were mind-blowing for the era, but today they look...really homoerotic. I'm always amazed what passed for manly in the '80s.
ReplyDeleteVal Venis...is coming.
ReplyDeleteLiger's the fuckin man. I never saw his 1991 run, but his brief appearances in 96 and 97 were sweet, I wish he could have got a full-time deal. His Japanese work is some of the best wrestling I've ever seen, *** is a crappy night for him.
ReplyDeleteI could have sworn they ran past the nWo forming at BATB 96; And that we were already familiar with the nWo.
ReplyDeleteFor me the tagline of 'Blood Runs Cold' stuck in my head. I remember thinking 'Blood Runs Cold' would be another group of big name wrestlers coming in, since more and more big names kept jumping ship. Instead we got some Herb from the Power Plant in a SubZero Mortal Kombat 3 outfit.
Were they posted here on the blog not too long ago? Ive seen them recently and theyre gayer than heck.
ReplyDeleteSomeone's been watching the Cornette youshoot. lol...
ReplyDeleteI thought the Y2J vids were stupid cuz he debuted in a Aug of 99... not 2000
ReplyDeleteWhich one? I've only seen his history of WWF in 97. Glad to see at least someone from that era acknowledges it. In fact, Memphis was full of really weird shit like that. All their music videos are unintentionally hilarious, except for Adrian Street's, but his are hilarious for all the right reasons.
ReplyDeleteI remember at first my impression of it was that I was very intrigued. At some point though, they had been running them for a ridiculously long time it seemed like. I don't know, maybe it was just because I consumed all that was wrestling that summer, including the B and C shows, but I just remember thinking it was such overkill and I was getting sick of even hearing about it.
ReplyDeleteYeah good call --- his 1996 stuff was great too! I'd sort of forgotten about that. He had a crazy good match with Rey Mysterio I think at Starrcade 1996, I believe. I think that was after he recovered from his brain tumor too!
ReplyDeleteI thought they were for wrath/adam bomb. He was an athletic guy with big time size, and I thought, "What a cool way to bring in a guy with so much potential." At the very least, I thought it was some guy who had history with the nWo guys (I mean, "blood runs cold" does kind of imply that he was out for revenge). Instead, I think Glacier debuted on WCW Pro against The Gambler and had the dumb lighting theme. As you suggested, Curry, it was the ultimate letdown.
ReplyDeleteYou don't know anything about THIS BUSINESS, clearly. THIS BUSINESS crafted men such as Triple H in pre-debut vignettes, who later became the game, and that damn good, and then a king that all kings looked up to in THIS BUSINESS. So, in this INDUSTRY of BUSINESS, you better...
ReplyDeleteer, wait, we're talking bad about Jericho? Alright! BUSINESS!
Cornette says in his youshoot (best shoot ever btw) that while working memphis the fabs come in and they do these rock videos that are revolutionary at the time, and u look at them now and they are gay as hell
ReplyDeleteIt could be the 2001 shoot though, but whichever one he said it in, you pretty much quoted verbatim.
His entrance was so awesome we didn't care.
ReplyDelete"Worst: The Artist Formerly Known As Prince vignettes did nothing to make me care any more about Iaukea."
ReplyDeleteWas it even slightly possible for anything or anyone to make you (or anyone else) care about Prince Iaukea? Ever?
Imma do Dusty "Diz BIdnezz babay!!!"
ReplyDeleteThe Sean O'Haire vignettes were interesting because the first few were great, but then his character debuted and all the charisma just...wasn't there.
ReplyDeleteMeh... I was happy for Jericho gettin out of WCW, but his entrances was ok.
ReplyDeleteFor best, I liked the O'Haire videos. Even after remembering him being lousy in WCW and in the beginning of his WWF run, I still was ready to buy into him as a big star just from those vignettes, which is obviously exactly what they were going for. Shame they didn't follow up.
ReplyDeleteWhile I wouldn't call it "worst", Jericho's recent videos on his last comeback were nonsensical. They didn't have anything to do with Jericho and even after people knew it was him they still kept on in that same direction. Really disappointing.
They did run past the nWo forming, it thing it was around the time that Nash showed up on Nitro that they started showing a guy that looked like Sub-Zero, and we all knew it was gonna suck.
ReplyDeleteI kind of miss The Gambler. I loved how he would stand in the corner and throw ace cards at the camera before the match started. That's the kind of thing that needs to be brought back, the dickhead heel jobber that get's squashed to get a new face over.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty much what Miz is doing right now.
ReplyDeleteBest: The Braden Walker "3 DVD Greatest Hits set" on YouTube is one of my favorite things ever. I laugh every time.
ReplyDeleteWorst: Russo's two makeovers...B-U-Double Z-K-I-Double L and "The Juice" just about killed my interest in wrestling.
Hang on - what about those vignettes for Outback Jack? As an Australian, they were embarrassing beyond belief (though it's true, there are cows that drink beer in pubs in the Northern Territory); as a fan they were cheesy and when we saw how crap he was in the ring... well...
ReplyDeleteI thought O'Haire and Jindrack (sp?) were great in WCW, it was like if a guy like Orton could do high-flying shit like a cruiserweight. Then they teamed him with Palumbo and pretty much killed his career on the spot.
ReplyDeleteTwo words:
ReplyDeleteCryme Tyme.
Steven Regal's Real Man's Man vignettes should not go unmentioned. Neither should Outback Jack's,lol. How can anyone forget the wonderful vignette to introduce us to Akeem?
ReplyDeleteY2J is still my favorite entrance ever. But I have sort of weird tastes when it comes to wrestling, as anyone who's read my comments here probably figured out.
ReplyDeleteI can almost see how the Juice could be mildly amusing in small dosages; the Rock was just so big and Juvi put an interesting twist IMO.
ReplyDeleteBuzzkill was an embarassment though, yes,
4 words: Money, money YEAH YEAH
ReplyDeleteGood. I've not seen a single one of his matches. You're from The Real World? I don't give a fuck if you're HBK, Liger, and any other 3 great wrestlers rolled into one, if you came from reality TV I don't ever want to see you on anything.
ReplyDeleteIm sure everyone likes the Y2J entrance in the WWF, it was cool. It just wasnt this transcending thing that everyone strokes thier peepee to.
ReplyDeleteIt was alright. Especially when he gets eviscerated by the Rock, which they never talk about. Just the entrance. Not the promo. Not the evisceration. Just the entrance.
Didnt Saba Simba have a vignette? I know Roddy Piper totally exposed him on his debut, but i thought he had a vignette.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is hard to beat... That's one of those "I'm embarrassed that anybody knows I watch wrestling" kind of moments lol
ReplyDeleteThat's how you know he's the man. "Jushin, you just had a brain tumor removed." "I don't give a fuck, I gotta go to the US and have a **** match even though I know I'm not gonna get any kind of push!"
ReplyDeleteI'd normally have a smartass reply to this, but I got nothing. Well played, Mr. Fuji.
ReplyDeleteto be honest, i liked them. Cryme Tyme were funny and had charisma. They werent the best in the ring but the matches werent dull. Its just funny that over the years they have some good to great tag teams, that could have anchored the division until someone else came along.
ReplyDeleteThe ones that come to the forefront are LonDrick, Cryme Tyme and La Resistance. Also Legacy (Rhodes and Dibiase)
Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm not big on the promo either, the whole tone of it is wrong to me. He definitely wasn't a hit out of the gate either, although my favorite period of Jericho's WWF tenure was definitely the time around his big win over Triple H.
ReplyDeleteThat entrance though and specifically that initial pop when his name shows up on the tron are spine tingling great though.
And Heath Slater?
ReplyDeletePiper: HEEEEEEEEEEEY THAT'S TONY ATLAS!
ReplyDeleteVince: "Mr. Piper, that's new WWF superstar Saba Simba!"
Piper: "Hmmmm I don't know...."
What's weird is that was on a taped show, you think they would have just redone it lol Maybe they were trying to be cute though.
Absolutely, the pop is awesome. The tron and music, pyro and gaga is great and then.... he opens his mouth.
ReplyDeleteKonichiwa, bitches!
ReplyDeleteLive and in publeek, if you weel.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you can call the segment where OMG transformed in to Akeem a vignette, because I don't think there are words to describe it. Beyond racist. But I'm not sure that does it justice.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Juice too, especially since it sounded like he was reading all of his lines off of cue cards lol. I always thought it was kind of funny. Buzzkill was terrible.
ReplyDeleteDid Goldust have vignettes or did he just appear, fully-formed? I forget.
ReplyDeleteI kind of remember them doing a bunch of promos where he'd quote movies prior to his actual debut, but maybe that did come right after his first match with Marty Jannetty.
ReplyDeleteI dont think so, i think by that time Atlas was on crack and needing a job, So of course bury him on tv.
ReplyDeleteIts Vince.
"duble trubble bash at da beach bubble, Tony!"
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for the guy. It's gotta be rough to cosplay as a knockoff of your more successful brother.
ReplyDeleteThat would speak well of the entrance, I think. I wouldn't really call what Rock did evisceration, at least by his standards. "Some jabroni named Juventud" doesn't really compare to "Big Slow" or that time he talked about how God hated Billy Gunn.
ReplyDeleteI think we'd all like him a lot more if he suddenly decided he was an old timey riverboat gambler, though.
ReplyDeleteYeah in retrospect it was very unusual for them to refer to a wrestlers past at that time or even their real name (i.e. The Dragon with no mention of Ricky Steamboat) so it really stands out as an unusual moment where they'd openly have Piper acknowledge it.
ReplyDeleteKizarny was pretty bad for Smackdown a few years back.
ReplyDeleteTypical WCW... that Nasty Boys/Public Enemy match was really good, fucking amazing by their standards... and we can barely see it thanks to the split screen and the giant BATB logo taking up most of the TV.
ReplyDeleteI think it does, cuz it pegged him and WCW as second rate and in one promo, mid card.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Man's Man Regal was a god.
ReplyDeleteLinda is lucky her political opponents have not dragged some of the racial stuff out into the open.
ReplyDeleteWORSt: Those promos that aired in 1999 for Beaver Cleavage or whatever it was. Headbanger Mosh repackaged as someone who they hinted at as having an affair with his mom. I don't know if he ever DEBUTED as a wrestler, but the vignettes were pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteI just commented on this, and then I scroll to the bottom and see you entered this. I second this completely.
ReplyDeleteIZ DAT AN INSTRUMENT OF CLUBBRIN? BUYYYY-CYCLE! WAITRESS TRAY!!! PAY-IN WIN-DUH!
ReplyDeleteI remember quick
ReplyDeletevignettes that just said "Golldust: coming soon (or coming at wherever he made his debut). Real quick shots though, just that on the screen and only for no more than 10 seconds.
But you dont have to take my word on it. LETS FIRE IT UP!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32OPyEAraU4
Another candidate for the BEST has to be Lance Storm and Chris Jericho's vignette's that aired in SMW. It was footage of them working out, and playing at a Chuck E. Cheese or something and they going to bed with two hideous looking women. It was like a 10 minute video with weird close ups of their asses and crazy music. Hilarious video, I think Jericho talks about it in his book.
ReplyDeleteWait, I got one!
ReplyDeleteIs your girlfriend/wife/valet shaking her head while you have this "I just fucked up big time" look on your face because you said "NIKKA"?
...at least you type well...
ReplyDeleteOH its a vignette... HILARIOUS I might add...
ReplyDeleteHe debuted, but on like Jakked or Metal or whatever the C show was at the time. Then he got put into a domestic violentce angle with his valet that got dropped rather quickly for obvious reasons. Wrestlecrap did a entry on him.
ReplyDeleteI kinda recall them doing the same when Iron Sheik came out as Col. Mustafa too.
ReplyDeletejust watched it on youtube.
ReplyDeletelooked gay,.. not as gay as the fabulous ones video, but gay enough.
Wow, all that blurring sucks...
ReplyDeleteThat Jericho promo perfectly describes exactly how I felt about the Attitude era, and Rock's usual repetitive promo in response is why I've never been a fan of his. I don't see an evisceration, I see a great promo followed by Rock's same old B.S. I never got (from a kayfabe POV) why anyone would respond when Rock asked "what's your name?"
Hey, sometimes you hit a home run, sometimes you strike out, but you'll never know unless you swing the bat. And good manners, typing, and grammar are important regardless of your B.A.C. No offense intended, Ryan.
ReplyDeleteGoldust had vignettes and they were awesome. First they were bumpers between matches "Goldust: Coming Soon." And then the had a series of vignettes where he would cut awesome promos and use lines out of movies. I think they were amazing for what they did: erasing every memory anyone ever had of Dustin Rhodes up to that point, and replacing them with ****sssssssssnifff*** GOLDUST.
ReplyDeleteThey should have done the Akeem skit line for line to turn Brodus Clay into the Funkasuarus. Can you imagine how everyone would have lost their shit over that???
ReplyDeletesee thats funny. what i see is a mid carders trying to make a splash with the big dogs and gettin shot down.
ReplyDeleterocks rebuttal while repetitive now was over then.
The minute I saw Brodus come out, it made me think of Akeem.
ReplyDeleteespecially when brads the better wrestler.
ReplyDeleteThey did allude to it when he has Hogan in the camel clutch at Summer Slam, but it is MUCH more vague, just Piper saying something like "hey... this looks familiar... I think I remember this from before". I don't recall them mentioning it before that, although they might have.
ReplyDeleteThe first WWF PPV I watched in a timely fashion (which is to say not several years later on VHS) was SS'98, motherfuckin' Deadly Games tourney - it was great at the time, because it introduced me to all the important characters.
ReplyDeleteAnd Zoidberg.
...is it wrong that any time I see someone in a flannel shirt, I can't help singing to myself "...he's a maaaaannn..."?
Not to get on my soapbox but I have to say, I really dug the early Goldust stuff a lot, especially the start of the angle with Razor Ramon, but I feel everything after those first couple of months is pretty overrated and I think they sort of killed the character almost right out of the gate.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem I have with it is that the original angle was really intriguing and totally ballsy, but they cut the legs out from under it when they started back-pedaling with the "oh he's just playing mind games with him" stuff and quickly pairing him with the nearest beard they could find in Marlena. Well of course he's playing mind-games with him -- but you're not supposed to TELL us that. They overplayed their hand a bit with the whole sexing up Razor Ramon in the ring stuff and probably got into some hot water, which forced them to turn right around and do a 180 by practically screaming "oh my god there is no possible way this guy could actually be gay". To me the whole thing ran off the rails during the Piper feud, where Vince's idea of clever booking was to have him wearing lingerie underneath his wrestling clothes. Insert Vince guffaw here and "Anything can happen in the WWF!"
That's one tendency about Vince that I've always been frustrated with -- granted it's always been a larger problem than just his in wrestling, but he has a tendency to be so heavy-handed with his characterizations. The man is allergic to subtlety and it's like he can't resist the urge to get some cheap heat by throwing some man-on-man action spot into that match that will surely incite the crowd, but in this case it resulted in the necessary killing the really interesting part of the character.
He was pretty funny with Booker T later though.
I see your point, but"mid carder" is what you (and more importantly, his promoter) make of it. Some people saw him as a mid carder, some people saw him as the only guy in WCW that was getting over on his own as a heel. One promoter ignored him because he felt the nWo couldn't spare 10 minutes, another promoter gave him a great entrance, let him cut a great promo, and put him into a feud with The Rock. On his first day.
ReplyDeleteI typed some stuff here, but it's getting unreadable, crammed so far to the right, so I've responded below lol
ReplyDeleteRegarding what Adam Curry said above regarding Jericho and being a mid-carder or not and such.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you said, but not so much the part that they "put him in a feud with the Rock on his first day". I think it was like they let him TALK with The Rock on his first day -- it
didn't really go anywhere and Jericho spent most of the next few months
stuck in matches with Road Dogg, until he had his first proper feud against Chyna of all people. It took him a LONG time to get back to that level.
The fact that he was instantly pushed off Rock's level in his first interview just makes it worse I think -- they had the potential to shoot him off into the stratosphere with such a perfectly executed introduction and really stick it to WCW for not taking advantage of his potential the same way they failed to with guys like Austin or Foley, but instead they just popped the crowd and pushed it aside.
I mean compare that to a debut like Ted Dibiase in the WWF or Rick Rude in WCW. They pushed both of those guys right into major feuds against top guys and got them over as main eventers right off the bat.
I know perception is everything in wrestling and Vince McMahon is a master at it -- because if Jericho had been wrestling Madusa in WCW in 1999, it would have been "they have no clue what to do with Jericho, they are just wasting his talent". In the WWF you could say the same thing, except it's worded as "Jericho wasn't ready / he couldn't work WWF main event style". While I give them credit for taking the chance on him and sticking with it in the long-run, they didn't really have any idea what to do with him either.
I absolutely love those.
ReplyDeleteThey're gonna rock America! By jeeting the bears, then Lance jeeting Chris!
I just wish I could find the one where Chris wakes up Lance at 8pm to go party.
Jericho talking about begging Cornette to go anywhere and find better looking woman, only to be shot down, is hilarious. Because seriously, the woman are SO gross.
Why we STILL haven't seen Strange Kentucky People yet is beyond me.
I'm a wrestling fan going on 17 years, and I swear almost every week I learn something new.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't acknowledge that Ricky Steamboat was in fact, Ricky Steamboat? I thought it was Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, and he just did the stupid fire deal? or was it just The Dragon and they acted like he was Saba?
Wait. How could you not like them? As a black person yourself, you had to be proud to see the black community FINALLY represented correctly. No?
ReplyDeleteHonest to God, since I've been recapping that crap, it did the opposite.
ReplyDeleteIt made me MORE interested in the old Iaukea. I would wish so badly he'd just return to the old shit, instead of wrestling in a leisure suit.
My name's Leonard Washington, and I'm from a little place called None of Your Goddamn Business.
ReplyDeleteI searched for that Strange Kentucky People video. I'm torn on whether Jericho lied about it or not. But it seems way too absurd and specific and AWESOME to not be real.
ReplyDelete"Oh, honey, dat was da Dragon Screw Legwhip!"
ReplyDeleteSome of the best commentary of all time.
Did you see the episode of Superstars last year when Regal faced Daniel Bryan and halfway during his entrance that horn goes off "HE'S A MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" The look on Regal's face...I would have paid the price for a PPV for that moment.
ReplyDeleteIs that the classic one that's something like, 3 hours long, and he's just chilling in his black t-shirt?
ReplyDeleteI could listen to him talk about wrestling forever.
Kurt Angle. I could not.
I hate The Miz, but if he'd pack a derringer in his boot, and one of those card-up-the-sleeve-deals, then I'd instantly forgive all that he'd done.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny. Glacier talks about how he just wanted to be a martial artist type person. Sort of like Superstar Billy Graham when he came back. But then Bischoff took it soooo far.
ReplyDeletewhen you gonna do the 3rd disc of best of Raw 2010?
ReplyDeleteI've done a lot of searching for it, and I read an interview where someone dispelled some of the things Jericho said about his time in SMW. But the one thing he was adamant about, was that SKP was real, and it was weirder than you could imagine.
ReplyDeleteIn an age with YouTube it is a DAMN SHAME that's the ONE video that hasn't found it's way online. Seriously, a Chyna sextape sees the light of day. but those Strange Kentucky People are just lost in the space time continuum?? BULLSHIT!
ReplyDeleteOh no don't start that again! Damn that Steve. I swear that was an inside job or something.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I thought it might have been inside too, because he was ALWAYS first to post.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if someone other than Dunn would get it...
i cant recall but i know the 01 shoot is 4.5 hours , from rf video and spawned the cornette face, maffew used in botchamania.
ReplyDeletethe youshoot is about 3.5 hours, and he has a black roh shirt on.
i did like cryme tyme. racial stereotypes dont offend me in wrestling. that just wrestling... always has been.
ReplyDeleteHowcould i forget the classic "He gone make hiz back crack n hiz livuh quivuh babee!!!"
ReplyDeleteDitto for Show. I dont care about the weight problems in 1999 he was young and he was supposed to be pushed.
ReplyDeleteDitto for Goldberg, SS 2003 was supposed to be his show to dominate, yet HHH-politics killed that.
Vince is a great promoter, he sucks as a booker.
Is it at all possible you people aren't drinking as much as I am? I can generally manage if I hunt & peck type, I just can't keep up with my ace typing skills while inebriated and I end up laying on the keys.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be funny. Just because it'd be a bunch of liberal Connecticut people being offended by it and yet I'd bet most of them don't know any black people.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am stereotyping white Connecticutians.
I remember seeing a Dunn post once and Steve posted about the Best of Raw, but the date of his comment was days BEFORE the Dunn review was actually posted. It was all a work! Just like Montreal.
ReplyDeleteMy vote for worst is when WWF brought back Tito Santana as El Matador. I just remember him talking about going back to his family roots and 12 year old me is just thinking You're still Tito Santana, you suck.
ReplyDeleteHe did the Vince Russo Trademark "Debut As a Stupid Character Then Break The Fourth Wall And Call It Stupid, Then Just Wrestle As Yourself". And after that he was just Chaz, a kid from Jersey out livin' his dream, wrestlin' in his underwear. Then he hit his girlfriend and started wearing a turban, before getting back together with his old partner and wearing giant fake boobs in the ring. This was all years after he was a wrestling nun. A career anyone would be proud of!
ReplyDeleteOK, the youshoot I haven't seen.
ReplyDeleteBUT WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?!
ReplyDeleteYeah, when you type drunk, I just imagine you typing with your face.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites was Nathan Jones, debuting as a scary ex-con with actual footage of news reports calling him "The Terror of Boggo Road" or whatever. Unfortunately nothing ever came of it, but it seemed like it was going to be an awesome character.
ReplyDeleteOne of the stupidest has to be Ludvig Borga. Here's this big, scary, pseudo-Nazi. Well, first, lets make sure everyone knows he's Finnish and not German so we don't actually get accused of having a controversial Nazi character. Well, now we need a reason to hate America. I know! Let's have him hate the fact that we litter so much! And thus, someone who was supposed to be one of the scariest, top heels in the WWF was basically a Finnish Nazi Captain Planet.
Yeah, that's another one where character was fully formed and ready for action as soon as he debuted. In a manner of speaking.
ReplyDeleteThey did run forever because they changed their minds a few times about what the gimmick was going to be and who would do it and such, but instead of dropping it like a normal company they just kept HYPING it instead.
ReplyDeleteThey were on a kick of not mentioning people's pasts when Steamboat came back in 1991. They only alluded to his past in vagueness, like giving Savage shit n commentary on Superstars for losing to Steamboat, but not mentioning where. The Piper "Hey, it's Tony Atlas!" incident was another example. Daley Boy Smith as the British Bulldog - not a former world tag team champion member of the British Bulldogs, just solo - was another.
ReplyDeleteThe comments were always sly, but they did slightly acknowledge the past in various ways. In fact, I'd bet that Piper's Atlas comment was planned.
best youshoot ever. dont forget to get the lost questions, so its like 4.5 hours of shit.
ReplyDeletewait... fab 5 freddy takes offense.
ReplyDeleteYES!! Watched it on youtube.
ReplyDeleteLOOK IN THE SKY!!!
Its a bird, no its a plane!
NO, ITS SUPER-RIB!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkEju95RIrk for anyone who hasn't seen it.
ReplyDeleteBest: Val Venis
ReplyDeleteYeah, I loved the O'Haire vignettes, but it also felt like they didn't have a single idea of what to do with him once he actually debuted.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes post links to articles on Twitter/Facebook before they post on 411.
ReplyDeleteStill, have to admire the persistence.
GLACIER! wow how stupid were his vignettes, than his entrance was even dumber.
ReplyDeleteAfter Juvy lost to Jericho in 98 and had to de-mask, they started showing vignettes for the new maskless Juvy that they tried to sell as an International Man of Mystery in Desperado.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/3qh07oi_rWs
Someone decided it would be a good idea for Nash to powerbomb him.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't.
I just want to remind ya'll to diversify yo' bonds.
ReplyDeleteI'm the first one to invoke Mr. Perfect? Nine vignettes collected here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00D680E667267951
Scott, do you know what the different plans were? I remember watching then and just thinking how stupid it was considering you had the NWO rendering gimmicks like that irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteHeath Slater seems much more suited for a gimmick like that.
ReplyDeleteOr even weirder was how everyone else in the angle went on to be bigger than the featured guy. Which I didn't think possible when that includes Ernest Miller and a man who's sole character trait at the time was that he was a collector of rare artifacts.
ReplyDeleteGood call on Jushin, I remember as a kid being super hyped to see his matches after watching those video packages. I remember going on and on when in one of those video packages Liger dropping someone with a top rope DDT. That just completely blew my mind at the time.
ReplyDeleteBuy or sell: Had Spivey not hung it up, we'd have had Waylon Mercy, WWF Champion.
ReplyDeleteBest: VAL venis, Jericho 99 and goldust
ReplyDeleteWorst: the stalker, outback Jack, kwang
Yeah, I forgot that the whole mess launched Kanyon's career, so I guess it was a good thing in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI loved that those were supposed to heel promos but they were so hilarious they couldn't debut them as anything but faces.
ReplyDeleteFollowing Angle on Twitter is a chore, because my entire Twitter feed is now people verbally blowing Angle and him retweeting it for the world to see. Then he gets drunk and talks about how he's better than everyone in the WWE... "...but I still love you guys!!!"
ReplyDeleteOh god, that Chyna feud was awful.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty cool if you were there live, but yeah, it was pretty stupid overall. That was usually the best part of the match. As a sidenote, I was playing WCW vs The World yesterday and won the IU title. My reward? Glacier! There's a hour of my life I'll never get back...
ReplyDeleteSupposedly most of those were real, and done on the first take.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure we would've seen him put over Diesel, Bret or Michaels in that era, since even if he'd stayed healthy, Spivey probably only had a couple of years left in him anyway. But Waylon Mercy definitely could've been an upper midcarder/IC champ type. He would've been a natural opponent for Undertaker, plus the added smark bonus of the history between Spivey and Callaway.
ReplyDeleteThis is true. This was in my pre-internet days, so I didn't even realize Goldust WAS Dustin until he had his first match.
ReplyDeleteSee I recall Gorilla Monsoon saying its the Iron Sheik when he debuted as Col Mustafa. How much of a sellout is Sheik to wear Iraq garb being an Iranian?
ReplyDeleteEven though they were never meant to be taken seriously, the Mean Street Posse videos were awesome.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVl8ONGBMOg
Its important to remember, Eric Bischoff was the best at calling a "jumping double back heel roundkick"
ReplyDeleteI had to have been the only person really excited to finally see a debuting Beaver Cleavage-I suppose I saw it as being really campy, and over the top campy has always been a favorite element of wrestling for me. The problem with Beaver Cleavage is that when he debuted on RAW, he fought against Christian (then of the brood). That means that it was expected that audiences cheer this guy, when clearly he should been a heel (I imagine him throwing tantrums and basically being a little prick with a mother fixation). The crowd clearly had no idea what to make of him either, and I think that's what really killed it-Beaver Cleavage as a face.
ReplyDelete" He got a buuuuyyyy - tttthhhiiicccclleee. I dont know where tha kid eeeith who wasths a-ridin' it "
ReplyDeleteTed DiBiase getting lunch and then clearing out a public pool cannot be topped.
ReplyDeleteHere's the Hirohito promo which I never thought I would see again
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSIgdulGFNs
No wonder they pulled these things. And really, his name is Hirohito? At least name him Kamikaze or something equally stupid to go along with the racism, instead of just dredging up more bad memories for the sake of cheap heat. I can at least laugh at it if his name is Banzai Bushido but Hirohito is like naming a guy Hitler Von Erich.
Kizarney was at the Calgary Comic Con for some insane reason- he was the only wrestler I never saw with a fan/customer. I mean, he's just so low level (Canadian?) jobber in the business.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VylZhputrk&feature=channel&list=UL
ReplyDeletePresenting Dr. Claw...I mean, Ta-Gar: Lord for the Volcano
The match aint half bad either
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITEW-EkJFcs
ReplyDeleteUgh, I forgot about the Crush promos! You gotta love that Crush remembers his childhood in black and white
Actually, Glacier is one of the more dominant guys in that game. Put the difficulty at hard and he is a beast to defeat. His superkick can KO you easily in a long match.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwCbfjK0MJM&feature=related
ReplyDeleteNot only is the promo amazing, but you briefly get to hear Vince Mcmahon say "Oh My Goodness, To Wong Foo..." before the video ends.
LOL! Yes that is one of them! There are a bunch of other ones too, of him smashing up his toys and such. I don't know why but that just irritates the hell out me haha
ReplyDeleteYeah they were sorta sketchy about it with some guys. Kerry Von Erich was just "The Texas Tornado" for awhile, but occasionally Vince would call him "The Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich" on TV too.
ReplyDeleteSteamboat was almost entirely wiped out though -- they would never mention his name knowingly, it was just "The Dragon". Occasionally a commentator would slip up, but I think the order was that it was not to be mentioned.
Now *that's* perfect!
ReplyDeleteHis biggest claim to fame is getting Lawler's sloppy seconds.
ReplyDeleteI always thought they should have stuck with the Hollywood Affeciandado aspect of the character more. The movie quotes were a cool gimmick. And the whole mind games thing was modeled after Adrian Street who also acted gay, but also had a female valet, etc.
ReplyDeleteI always felt Vince always wanted to make wrestlers his own creations, but the old school guys would call him out on it. Remember when Lawler did the same thing for Farooq?
ReplyDelete"Hey, that's Ron Simmons!"
100% agree Adam. Jericho was something different than the typical WWF catchphrase, tough guy, smart ass insult style. But since Jericho bashed it in his book, we all play revisionist history now and act like we hated it at the time, when in reality the internet blew it's collective wad all over both the entrance AND the back and forth.
ReplyDeleteno matter how many times I read his book (I think I've read it five times) I will laugh out loud at the description of that video. I mean it seriously makes me laugh until my sides hurts, even on the fifth reading.
ReplyDeleteI'll add what I said up above down here as well, due to nesting issues. Saying Jericho's debut exposed him as a midcarder is nothing more than revisionist history for 99% of the IWC based on the fact that Jericho, who is completely overly self-critical on many occasions, trashed it in his book. The IWC was going crazy for his entrance, his promo, the fact that he did it with the Rock, and the give and take. There was no discussion about how much of a mid-carder he looked because he puffed out his cheeks or whatever BS Jericho now seems to buy (Stockholm syndrome, plain and simple), but rather a collective IWC orgasm for his debut. What was great about Jericho's debut is apparently what made Vince hate him. He was different. The WWF NEEDED someone like Jericho. At that point in 99 the WWF was frankly tired. Way too many overly smart-ass, insiderish promos from guys that never backed down. Jericho was different. He was a goofball. He was a coward. He was a blowhard. He was so not cool that in WCW he became cool. But sadly Vince completely missed the boat. I'd argue that his WCW character could have been great in WWF, but instead Vince felt the need to tear him down, with help from HHH in his ear. The best parts of Jericho in WWF, until his return after sabbatical in Hollywood, was when he was allowed to be goofy Jericho. Because frankly, tough Jericho kinda sucks.
ReplyDeleteIn 1999, the WWF had one guy really doing something different: Foley. And as a result he was over huge. IMO they absolutely missed the boat in adding a heel doing something different in Jericho. Thankfully he managed to hang on and become a star, but he should have been a star from the get go.
That makes sense, Kidman and Kanyon are pretty hard to beat in Revenge.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair...Kat's still pretty fucking hot.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you can't powerbomb Kidman...j/k.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was cool that Kanyon had his Mortis costume in Revenge. That was a nice touch and Kanyon's moveset was one of my favorites in that game.
The Stalker's were pretty bad, but then again, he was supposed to be a heel and "stalk" Sable, thereby sparking a feud with Marc Mero. However, I think Mero vetoed the idea and they tried to make him a face, so he "stalked" Goldust (and stalked in the lightest sense of the term), lost, and got repackaged into the New Blackjacks shortly thereafter.
ReplyDeleteI rememer it differently than you. I thought he was introduced initially as "The Texas Tornado, Kerry Von Erich" and they eventually just started calling him "The Texas Tornado".
ReplyDeleteSame for Henning. He was originally called "Mr. Perfect Curt Henning" in WWF.
Just calling him "The Dragon" never really worked, in part because Steamboat had already been a big star in the 'Hulkamania' era. It wasn't like Tony Atlas, who was a JTTS in the late 80s WWF, or Von Erhich who had no history in the WWF. BUt yeah, the WWF d
ReplyDeletesell.
ReplyDeleteAkeem's introduction was just too cheezy to take seriously, even as damage. The Vince/Trish one ws much more effective, in part because Vince himself was so heavily involved.
ReplyDeleteI just want to see how much farther right this can go.
ReplyDeleteHe did after all invent the superkick.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I think he would have been a major star from the get go, but one of the things a brand new guy from WCW should never do is straight up call one of the most tenured guys on the roster "boring".
ReplyDeleteAnd even farther!
ReplyDeleteBuy.
ReplyDeletemy theory: spivey should have neve5r been mercy. they should hsave saved it for barry windham instead of the stalker
ReplyDeleteHow about some love for Mankind.
ReplyDeleteThat's what a rib should be, not shitting in people's bags etc.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the guys had alternate costumes. You could chose between nWo Hogan and Hulkamania Hogan, crow Sting and blonde Sting, masked or un-masked Juvi, probably a few others I can't think of right now.
ReplyDeleteThat would've been an interesting gimmick swap. Windham as Waylon Mercy, Spivey as the Stalker. That might've worked.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I remember, and keep in mind this was many years ago anyway, the idea was that they didn't really know who was going to play the part or what it meant, but they just had a general idea of doing some sort of Mortal Kombat gimmick, so they starting running the Blood Runs Cold stuff in early 1996 and were going to figure it out later. Then they found Ray Lloyd at the Power Plant and decided to give him the gimmick around July, but nWo debuted and messed THAT debut up, so they sat on the gimmick for months while they kept doing the hype videos. I don't think it was ever intended to be anyone else, but it wasn't like they discovered Glacier and then decided to do the hype videos just for him, ya know?
ReplyDeleteHot but tainted.
ReplyDeleteNot just the Akeem one though, How about the HHH/Booker feud before WM?
ReplyDeleteDunno about her taint, it's probably hot too.
ReplyDelete